Friday, May 6, 2011

In 1976, President Ford issued Executive Order 11905 to clarify U.S. foreign intelligence activities. The order was enacted in response to the post-Watergate revelations that the CIA had staged multiple attempts on the life of Cuban President Fidel Castro. ("U.S. policy on assassinations," cnn.com, November 4, 2002)

Section 5(g), entitled "Prohibition on Assassination," states: "No employee of the United States Government shall engage in, or conspire to engage in, political assassination."

"China holds that the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of any country should be respected," said Jiang Yu, a spokeswoman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, according to Xinhua news agency. ("China blasts US government for operation that killed Osama," ibtimes.com, May 5, 2011)

More than a year ago, I wrote: "We suspect that when bin Laden is 'killed,' we'll just have to trust the folks that lied us into war to confirm they got him."

Is Bin Laden dead? Most probably. Was he killed in Abbotabad, Pakistan? We don't know. Was he the "mastermind" of 9/11? No.